Guardian Media CEO eyes buys ahead of U.S. push

By Gavin Haycock

LONDON (Reuters) - The chief executive of Britain's Guardian Media Group said on Monday the company was keen to buy business-to-business assets, but would not confirm whether she has put forward a bid for media group Emap EMA.L.

Emap has attracted private equity and trade buyer interest in its business-to-business (B2B) and consumer magazines, exhibitions and radio assets with initial bids due in last week.

Guardian Media Group Chief Executive Carolyn McCall, who has previously said her company was interested in Emap, told Reuters in an interview that buying B2B assets would help reduce the group's reliance on classified advertising.

"I think B2B is something that we would always look at and Emap is no exception," she said, adding that software technology for the media sector was another interesting acquisition area.

McCall's comments come a few weeks before GMG launches a U.S.-focused news and commentary Web site in the United States.

McCall said her senior management had done a lot of work in recent months on acquisitions strategy and there were a number of media models the London-based group was interested in.

"My aim and the group board's aim is to further diversify our portfolio away from classifieds and the UK economy."

Privately-run Guardian Media Group is owned by the Scott Trust, which was created in 1936 to make sure the Guardian's journalism stays financially and editorially independent.